


Waiting Game

by ReginaNocis



Series: Obscure Love [36]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 02:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13672080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReginaNocis/pseuds/ReginaNocis
Summary: Soulmates were not rare, but they were extremely hard to find. It wasn't something that you knew as soon as you met them, or at least not most of the time. They took the form of black bands on the wrists; right for platonic and left for romantic. It wasn't uncommon to have multiple platonics, but it was very rare to have more than one romantic. Darcy was glad to only have one. Over time, if you're lucky, a soul bond forms and the band's turn either silver or gold, depending on the strength of the bond.Darcy was twenty-eight and still hoping. All of her friends had either found theirs or given up. Darcy just couldn't give up, no matter how much it seemed like she'd never find them.





	Waiting Game

Living in Stark tower was nothing like she imagined it would be. For one, the AI that controlled the building had yet to speak to her at all. Tony warned her that he'd programmed JARVIS to ignore Science!minions completely, but she didn't realize that meant in her apartment, too.   
  
It was also strange to have Pepper Potts on speed dial for when Tony got to be too much. She'd been told to call whether she needed somebody to whip him into shape or just someone to vent to, and it was all kinds of awesome. She was planning a girl's night for her and Jane and Pepper as soon as possible.   
  
But the last straw of weirdness was when Captain freaking America pulled her to the side to tell her that he liked her cookies. She managed to make it into the privacy of the elevator before her freak out started, but only just. This was her life now. What even?!  
  
The only thing that could have made her life any better would have been finding her soulmates. She had two platonic and one romantic, and she couldn't wait to finally meet them. She'd been so sure that Jane would be, but nothing ever developed.   
  
Soulmates were not rare, but they were extremely hard to find. It wasn't something that you knew as soon as you met them, or at least not most of the time. They took the form of black bands on the wrists; right for platonic and left for romantic. It wasn't uncommon to have multiple platonics, but it was very rare to have more than one romantic. Darcy was glad to only have one. Over time, if you're lucky, a soul bond forms and the band's turn either silver or gold, depending on the strength of the bond.   
  
Darcy was twenty-eight and still hoping. All of her friends had either found theirs or given up. She knew that Jane had Thor for a romantic and Erik for a platonic, with one platonic band that never changed. Tony had one romantic (Pepper), and four platonics that Darcy wasn't sure who they were. Pepper had one romantic (Tony), and two platonic that she also didn't know. Jane was the only one who still had a black band. Some days Darcy hated them all.

  
This was not one of those days. Darcy had spent her morning making coffee and poptarts, transcribing Science!scribbles, and trying to get Tony to finally go to bed. She was about to switch him to decaf when JARVIS spoke to her for the first time.  
  
"If I may, Ms. Lewis, Ms. Potts usually takes away his music at this time. It is quite effective," he told her.   
  
Her whole right arm started tingling immediately, and she stared at the first band on her wrist as it changed to solid gold. She looked up to see Tony staring at her, too.  
  
"You know what, I think I will go to bed," he said quietly, immediately heading for the elevator. "I can't work well if I'm seeing things."  
  
"Thanks, JARVIS," Darcy said as soon as the elevator door closed. "Um... I don't know if you could see, but... I think you're my soulmate."   
  
"I saw, Ms. Lewis. I am also Sir's, and Ms. Potts', if that makes you feel better," he replied.   
  
"Strangely, it does," she told him. "What happens now?"  
  
"Ms. Potts believes it is best to keep my soulmates secret, as I am a machine," he told her. She would have said he sounded bitter, but she wasn't sure if he could feel in that way.  
  
"It's probably best. But what do you think? I figure you've got equal say, since you're just as much a part of this," she responded carefully.   
  
JARVIS was quiet for almost a full minute before he replied. "As I understand it, the discretion was to protect you. As Sir puts it, many would love to get their hands on my code through any means. Learning of my soulmates would make you a target, though you would have no such information. I am perfectly fine with keeping this secret to anyone beyond this tower," he told her.  
  
"Then it'll be need to know only," Darcy assured him. "And I, personally, don't think that SHIELD needs to know."  
  
"I most certainly agree," JARVIS assured her. "I believe Dr. Foster is searching for you."

  
Do you mind if I tell her?" Darcy asked. "It's just that she knows how long I've been waiting for even one soulmate, so this is a big deal to me."  
  
"It is to me as well, Ms. Lewis. Feel free to tell whoever you'd like," he replied. Darcy could almost hear a smile in his voice. This was going to be an adventure, she just knew it.  
  
She found Jane in the doorway of her lab, looking lost and annoyed. "You went to give Tony coffee an hour ago! I've been looking for my notes for twenty minutes. When did you find time to reorganize my files?" Jane demanded.  
  
"Last week, while you were with Thor. I get a lot done when Thor shows up," Darcy informed her. "Hey, guess what!"  
  
"Unless it's about my notes, I could not care less," Jane grumbled. She tended to react to things badly when she got closer to a breakthrough, which Darcy was very familiar with.   
  
"Finding a soulmate is the epitome of importance to me," Darcy informed her, frowning. "I thought you'd be happy for me."  
  
"You found one? Darcy!" Jane's whole posture changed as she grinned at her friend. "Who is it?"  
  
"See, this is the part that's hard to believe. It's actually JARVIS, Tony's AI," she admitted, watching Jane's reaction and hiding her sudden worry. It hadn't occurred to her how people might react to this. JARVIS technically shouldn't have a soul, and therefore this should be impossible.   
  
"Huh. I guess if anyone was going to be different, it would be you. How do you feel about it?" Jane asked, watching her just as closely. Darcy grinned.   
  
"I'm so happy, Jane! I finally found one! Who cares that he's not technically human," she replied. "He's one of my platonics. I've been waiting so long, Jane."  
  
"Then I'm happy for you. We can fight anyone who tries to ruin this for you," Jane told her, pulling her into a rare hug.  
  
"I doubt we'll have to. This information is limited to, like, friends and family only. Definitely not SHIELD. The team can know, and I'll be telling my sister. Erik can know, of course. Other than that... I don't trust people. JARVIS said it himself earlier; too many bad guys want information about him and Stark's projects. I don't want to risk it," Darcy told her.  
  
"I'm proud of you. Both of you," Jane told them, still grinning. "Now, about my notes?"  
  
Three days later, Darcy woke up to a tingling on her arm as her other platonic soulmark turned a luminescent silver. There, in the darkness of her room, she could just make out the silouette of a woman watching her.  
  
"Who are you?" Darcy asked, shifting to find her taser in the darkness.   
  
"Not your enemy. I'm not here to harm you, just to observe. I didn't mean to wake you," the woman replied quietly. Darcy found her taser and held it tightly in front of her.  
  
"That didn't answer my question," she pointed out. "I don't care if you are my soulmate. I will use this."  
  
"Good. Trust is to be earned, not given because of a mark," the woman nodded. "My name is Natasha Romanov."  
  
"The Black Widow?" Darcy asked, confused.  
  
"Yes, that's my codename," she agreed. "I already know who you are. Pepper tells me your other soulmate is JARVIS. It seems fate wanted to give you a hard time."   
  
"What do you mean?" Darcy asked, frowning.   
  
"A computer and an assassin, two very difficult soulmates. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Well... maybe them. But not someone like you," Natasha explained.  
  
"You don't think I can handle it?" Darcy asked angrily. "I'm not just some kid. And JARVIS is more than a computer to me. He's a friend who always has my back, no matter what. He takes care of me while I take care of the scientists, gives me advice when I'm having trouble, and always listens no matter what. As for you, you're an Avenger! I couldn't care less about what you did in the past. You aren't that person anymore. I'm so tired of people thinking I'm going to break!"  
  
"It's not that I think you can't handle it," Natasha protested. "I've seen you in the labs, and Pepper has told me about your frequent conversations with JARVIS. I just know that all of us are a bit much at times. Its hard to walk away from your soulmate."

  
"I don't want to walk away from anyone!" Darcy snapped. "Haven't we all lost enough?"  
  
"Perhaps there was a reason we were fated. You should know that I am very private. I don't mind you telling the team, or your family, but I prefer to keep this a secret to all others," Natasha replied, standing.   
  
"I'm telling Jane, too," Darcy warned her.   
  
"As I said, family," Natasha said with a small parting smile that made Darcy feel warm inside. She had a feeling that she and Natasha would get along just fine.  
  
She pulled Jane aside first thing in the morning to show off her shiny new silver band. Jane's eyes grew wide and she pulled her into yet another hug.   
  
"Darcy, I'm so happy for you! This is great!" she exclaimed.   
  
"Have you met Natasha Romanov yet? She snuck into my bedroom last night to check me out and became my new soulmate," Darcy replied, smiling.  
  
"She did WHAT?" Jane demanded.  
  
"Not like that! Pepper told her about me and JARVIS, and she wanted to see what was so special about me. Actually, our first conversation was an argument over whether or not I could handle being her soulmate. I won, of course," Darcy explained.   
  
"That doesn't actually surprise me at all," Jane admitted. "From what I've heard, she's not great at communication. Thor talks about her sometimes. I guess she's a great warrior."  
  
"He calls me his Lightning Sister, so I'm not sure he's a good judge of warriors. Just saying," Darcy shot back.  
  
"You do just fine for yourself. I've seen the footage," Natasha said, appearing from nowhere. "Isn't this a bit public for a private conversation?"  
  
"The minions know better than to listen. Besides, they mostly don't understand Jane, so they ignore us," Darcy informed her. "I'm not telling anyone who can't know."  
  
"I want to trust you," Natasha replied, frowning slightly. Jane took the hint and walked into the lab to start her day.  
  
"It's just that you've been burnt before? I read the signs. Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to earn that trust. In the meantime, you don't have to stalk me in the shadows. You can just come talk to me, or even just be near me in plain sight," Darcy told her.  
  
"I didn't want to bother you," Natasha admitted.  
  
"It bothers me more to think that you'd rather hide than talk to me," Darcy frowned.  
  
"Then I won't hide," Natasha agreed.  
  
"Thank you," Darcy replied, grinning again.  
  
Natasha spent the whole day over her shoulder, silently watching as she dealt with her three scientists and all of the minions. Occasionally, she'd wordlessly hand Darcy something she needed before she'd even started looking for it. But the best part, in Darcy's opinion, was that all it took was one glare from Natasha to get Tony to listen to her.   
  
"Men are terrified of any woman who exudes more power than them. Though I am smaller, I know how to intimidate. Very few men want to push their luck with me. Tony learned first hand why it is a bad idea to annoy me," Natasha told her when she asked.   
  
"Can you teach me?" Darcy asked, looking hopeful.  
  
"I suppose I can try," Natasha nodded. And that was how Darcy found herself in the gym on the day that she met the twins.  
  
Jane found hers first, of course. The team left for a mission and brought back two brand new heroes, which was not necessarily unusual. The unusual part was that not only were they very powerful twins, but Steve himself had invited them to join the team. It wasn't shocking that they'd agreed.  
  
Darcy was fuzzy on the details of their mission, and Natasha wasn't helping any. All she could gather was that they'd been fighting robots and it was Tony's fault. Also, somehow, the twins had managed to give JARVIS a body? She was fuzzy on the details, and they weren't sharing. She didn't see footage of Sokovia until weeks after it had happened.   
  
Wanda and Pietro Maximoff didn't exactly fit right into the team, but it was obvious that they were trying. They avoided the labs like their lives depended on it, and that meant that Jane and Darcy didn't officially meet them until a few days after they arrived. By then, Pietro and Clint had already become romantic soulmates, with Wanda as their platonic, and Natasha had formed a platonic bond with both. 

  
 Jane had met them the third night, when she literally ran into Pietro on her way to bed and her band turned silver. She'd told Darcy it was exactly the same color as his hair, and she hadn't been lying.  
  
The twins had the same gym schedule as Darcy and Natasha, it seemed. Natasha had has been letting her off the hook since coming back from the mission, but that only lasted a few days before she was dragged back for cardio. Apparently the trick to intimidation involved lots of sweating. Who knew?  
  
Still, it took almost a full week for her to actually speak to either of the twins. Pietro approached her first, while Wanda watched from the doorway.  
  
"Would you like to join us for lunch? Jane has told me that you eat right after you finish here, and we thought perhaps we could get to know you," he asked. She nodded after a few seconds of thought.   
  
"Alright, let me just shower and change. I'll meet you in the kitchen," she agreed. She wasn't very enthusiastic, since she'd discovered that they were the reason JARVIS now involuntarily had a body, but she'd try for Jane's sake. Fate had messed up by not making Jane one of her platonics.   
  
She pulled on the outfit she'd been wearing earlier in the day and made her way upstairs, grumbling under her breath about FRIDAY's constant cheerfulness. The twins were sitting patiently, waiting for her. Well, Wanda looked patient. Pietro was literally vibrating.   
  
"What sounds good? I can make just about anything as long as I can find ingredients and a recipe," she stated, heading for the fridge.  
  
"You would cook for us?" Wanda asked, sounding surprised.   
  
"Well, yeah. In my experience, good doesn't cook itself. Cooking is something I enjoy," Darcy admitted. Pietro looked impressed.  
  
"Your soulmate must love that," he said with a smile.   
  
"My platonics... don't. I haven't found my romantic yet, but I'm betting they won't care either way. It's not something I consider a strength," Darcy replied.   
  
"Why not?" Wanda asked. "We were never taught. Our parents died before we had the chance."  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry," Darcy said, frowning sadly. Then she had an idea. "Would you like to learn?"  
  
"You would teach us?" Wanda asked, eyes wide. Pietro was already shaking his head.  
  
"Of course, if it's something you want to learn. Everyone deserves the chance," she told them.  
  
"I would not have the patience, but Wanda has always wanted to learn," Pietro stated, earning a blush and a glare from her.  
  
"I would not want to waste your time," she said quietly.   
  
"You wouldn't be. I wouldn't offer if I minded at all," Darcy assured her.   
  
"If you are sure," Wanda hesitated. "I would love to learn."  
  
"Awesome! Is there anything in particular you want to learn how to make first?" Darcy asked, grinning. Wanda shook her head.   
  
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. They would meet in the kitchen at noon, right after they'd finished in the gym. Wanda had joined Natasha's lessons, wanting to learn how to fight without her powers. Again, Pietro had declined in order to spend more time with Clint.   
  
They started with bread, because Darcy insisted it was a skill all women needed. By the third week, they were making pasta from scratch and getting more flour on each other than in the noodles. Exactly one month later, in the middle of an epic food battle, both Darcy's and Wanda's romantic bands flared and shone a bright golden color.  
  
"Whoa," Darcy breathed, staring at their wrists in awe.  
  
"I never thought it would happen for me. I thought I was destined to stay alone," Wanda admitted.  
  
"Nobody is destined to be alone," Darcy argued, grabbing Wanda's hand gently. "And I'm so happy I have you."  
  
"You want me? Even after everything I've done?" Wanda asked skeptically.   
  
"I had this argument with Natasha already. Your past is not important to me. You aren't that person anymore. You're here, with the good guys. With me. That's what matters," she explained.  
  
Wanda gave her a tentative smile. "I am glad it is you, too," she whispered. Darcy couldn't help but to kiss her. It would be a hard future, but it would be worth it.


End file.
